BWW Blogs: 'The Showtune Mosh Pit' for August 18th, 2010

THE LATEST IN UNAUTHORIZED GOSSIP AND BUZZ

FROM THE HEART OF CHICAGO'S SHOWTUNE VIDEO BARS,

AND MUSICAL THEATER NEWS FROM CHICAGO TO BROADWAY

by Paul W. Thompson

Overheard last weekend under the showtune

video screens at Sidetrack and the Call:

Oh, there were big goings-on in the Showtuneland of Chicago this past weekend! And a whole lot of talkin' goin' on. But before we get to that particular topic, I'd like to take this opportunity to share with you some Chicago-based highlights of my recent trip to New York:  observations, thoughts and feelings that many of you may have had this spring or summer on a similar trip. Or, if not, you may very well have them in the foreseeable future! I certainly hope so. Because, if there's a lot of New York in the Showtune Mosh Pit, there's a lot of the Mosh Pit in New York! To wit: 

While transplanted Chicagoans like Stephen Buntrock ("A Little Night Music") and Scott Mikita ("The Phantom Of The Opera") continue to appear on Broadway, a newer transplant, Joshua Stephen Kartes, is now holding court in the piano bar at The Duplex (at the corner of Christopher Street and Seventh Avenue, the heart of the West Village) every Tuesday night from 9:00 pm to 4:00 am! He was burning up the keys for a mixed and appreciate crowd, playing whatever folks wanted to get up and sing, and singing himself when there was no one ready to go next. After making a name for himself as musical director for shows at Theo Ubique Cabaret Theatre (including their highly regarded "Lonesome Losers Of The Night" and his Jeff Award-winning work on  2007's "Cabaret"), Kartes moved to New York in August of last year. Landing a spot at one of the City's premiere piano bar venues is no small feat! You should drop by there if you can. 

Joshua Stephen Kartes 

Speaking of transplants, our two entries in the Broadway musical sweepstakes this past season are doing just fine with tourist audiences this summer (as was the plan, I'm sure). "Million Dollar Quartet" and "The Addams Family" are both playing as crowd-pleasing, recognizable properties, and the audiences who saw them with me seemed perfectly content that they were getting what they thought they would get. The casts we knew here last Christmas are pretty much intact, and, for the time being at least, all is well. Our tryout reputation is intact. 

Million Dollar Quartet - Official Site 

The Addams Family | Official Site 

Another Chicago to New York transplant, with a Los Angeles stint in between, is Tony Award nominee and host, Emmy Award-winner and Glen Ellyn native Sean Hayes, who is strutting his stuff next to everyone's favorite petite blonde, Kristin Chenoweth, in the revival of "Promises, Promises." A certain Newsweek column notwithstanding, he seemed perfectly in his element. They both did. And it was announced this week that both stars will be with the show through December 26, 2010. 

Chenoweth To Exit with Hayes 12/26 

I didn't know until recently that Sirius XM Satellite Radio broadcasts from the Times Square Information Center (next door to the Palace Theatre) every Wednesday at noon. Raconteur Seth Rudetsky hosts "Sirius XM Live On Broadway," with guest stars and live performances. Seats are limited, but free! If you're up early enough and you already have your matinee ticket, you might as well partake. 

SIRIUS Satellite Radio - Listen to Broadway Music 

While wandering the theater district (as is my wont), I happened upon the stage door to the New Amsterdam Theatre (on 41st Street, across from MDQ at the Nederlander Theatre). And of course, while I was there I sang as much as I could remember of "The Girls Upstairs" from "Follies." Well, wouldn't you? I mean, that's where the number takes place, in spirit if not in scripted fact! I gave myself chills. If you know what I mean, you may have done this yourself, or if you haven't, I highly recommend it! If you have no idea what I'm talking about, well, grab me some Monday, Wednesday, Friday or Sunday and I will tell you all about it! Kind of like being on 42nd Street and singing "42nd Street" from "42nd Street," only more hardcore. Can I get a holla back on that??? 

The New Amsterdam Theatre - Official Homepage 

Up on 44th Street, the production of "American Idiot" at the St. James Theatre reminded me that Green Day had performed at Lollapalooza in Grant Park earlier this month. Wonder how many people in that audience were there because the bandmembers wrote a Broadway musical? Not many? Well, hopefully some. In my opinion, there's nothing wrong with cross-pollenization and hybrids, as long as people know the pure things involved. 

Green Day's AMERICAN IDIOT on Broadway 

A New York performance that we will soon see here is that of Tony nominee Constantine Maroulis as the lead, Drew, in "Rock Of Ages." The national tour of this musical (which some have called "'Xanadu' for straight people") opens at Chicago's Bank Of America Theatre on September 21st. I believe the tour cast is rehearsing in New York, and Maroulis has still been performing the show with its Broadway cast at the Brooks Atkinson Theatre (he'll be doing so through September 9). Most stars rest up before taking a show on the road. Go figure! Oh, and young Chicago actor Travis Walker will be playing the young Franz in the tour (we saw him earlier this year in the Jeff Award-winning "Chess" at Theo Ubique Cabaret Theatre). Bravo to him! Livin' the dream....

Rock of Ages 

If you've stayed in major hotels in midtown Manhattan, you no doubt have come across "The Broadway Channel," that TV channel that shows promo clips for most current Broadway musicals in a 90 minute-or-so continuous loop. If you're like me, you watch the whole thing, straight through. Well, now I've learned that The Broadway Channel is on YouTube! Maybe it's been there a while, I don't know. I hope I don't watch it constantly, now that I know it's there. Talk about addictive! Oh, dear, I'm watching it now. Anyway, here's the link. Oh, dear. Click at your own peril! Good Lord!! 

YouTube - The Broadway Channel's Channel 

Other random thoughts I had last week: 

Why didn't anyone tell me that the Hebrew National hot dog place in the United terminal at LaGuardia Airport has closed? (It used to be called Brooklyn National also.) I always liked to stop there, because eating a hot dog with just mustard, ketchup and relish on it reminded my system that I wasn't in Chicago anymore! Ah, well. I ate at Asian Chao next door. It wasn't Panda Express, but it pretty much was.... 

That said, I have to admit that it seems like there are a lot more viable places to eat in midtown than there used to be. The neighborhood is larger than it once was since 42nd Street has been remade, but even so, I used to be hard pressed to find anything other than that Roy Rogers roast beef restaurant underneath the Minskoff Theatre (gone now, as is the one across the street from the Broadway Theatre). Maybe I'm less picky, but I doubt it. I think the possibilities have really grown. Thoughts, my peeps? 

Perhaps the most surprising Chicago to New York transplant I saw was the Walgreens drugstore now occupying the entire first floor of the landmark One Times Square building! You know, the one with the crystal ball on top of it that gets lowered every New Year's Eve. When did THAT happen? I mean, New York has been the exclusive domain of Duane Reade drugstores for decades. And this real estate couldn't possibly be cheap. But what better way to announce your arrival than such a visible location. From Midwest to Midtown, yay! 

And I couldn't resist mentioning that there's a new Marquis marquee. The Marquis Theatre, which since its opening in 1986 has insisted on prominently being actually on Broadway (unlike almost all other theaters, which are on side streets), has put in a very nice marquee on the side of the Marriott Marquis Hotel on 46th Street, across the street from the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre and next to a small but nice new ticket lobby and box office (replacing the weird one on Broadway that was so isolated and noisy). The escalators that lead you up to the theater's actual lobby are right there as well. I hope it works out! 

Speaking of marquees, the one at the Belasco Theatre now boasts artwork for the new musical "Women On The Verge Of A Nervous Breakdown," which will open this fall starring one Miss Patti LuPone. (It's pictured above.). That same Miss LuPone, you may have heard, was in Chicago this past weekend (well, Highland Park), headlining a somewhat staged version of "Annie Get Your Gun," directed by Lonny Price and conducted by Paul Gemigniani at the Ravinia Festival. Patrick Cassidy co-starred as Frank Butler, replacing (to the surprise of many) Brian Stokes Mitchell. George Hearn and a host of Chicago performers rounded out the cast. This production was national, if not international, musical theater news. 

Did this production wipe out the bad feelings generated by Ravinia's "Sondheim: 80" gala benefit evening on July 31, where barely an hour of music was performed before, sun still up, patrons were urged to leave the grounds so that dinner could be served to the Festival's more upscale supporters? The evening where a reportedly "huge gasp" arose from the pavilion audience (tickets were $125 each), when people realized the performance was over--no encore, no second act? 

From what I'm being told, the answer is "no." The "Annie" performances were well-received and well-reviewed, but a bad feeling lingers. Will Ravinia be able to patch things up with its musical theater fan base? Will memories prove short or long? No one knows. But it will be fascinating to see what showtune programming they offer next summer, and what the program for the benefit evening will be. Fascinating may not be the word for it. 

And don't forget: Hershey Felder stars in "Maestro: The Art Of Leonard Bernstein" at Ravinia on September 5 and 7. After Gershwin, Chopin and Beethoven, Felder returns as another pianistic giant. Who's next? My money is on Liszt. Sorry, Liberace fans.... 

Ravinia Festival 

And there you have it! Showtunes, Chicago style, with a Manhattan twist for the Summer of Very Warm Days. Next week's column will be back to normal, or at least, next to normal. I might tell a west side story about a funny girl, or get all footloose and fancy free (ok, that one's a stretch) about a man of no importance or the woman of the year or the boy from Oz or the girl in pink tights.... OK, somebody stop me! 

I'll see you this weekend, under the video screens, where you can properly chastise me for terrible wordplay!....Thanks for reading this very special edition of "The Showtune Mosh Pit."--PWT

(Photo Credit: Paul W. Thompson)

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